Period 3: Essential Question 3 Flashcards
How did the ideals that inspired the revolutionary cause reflect new beliefs about politics, religion, and society that had been developing over the course of the 18th century?
eq 3
Enlightenment ideas and philosophy inspired many American political thinkers to emphasize individual talent over hereditary privilege
answer 1
Religion [The Great Awakening] strengthened Americans’ view of themselves as a people blessed with liberty
answer 2
The colonists’ belief in the superiority of republican forms of government based on the natural rights of the people found expression in Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence. The ideas in these documents resonated throughout American history, shaping Americans’ understanding of the ideals on which the nation was based.
answer 3
During and after the American Revolution, an increased awareness of inequalities in society motivated some individuals and groups to call for the abolition of slavery and greater political democracy in the new state and national governments.
answer 4
In response to women’s participation in the American Revolution, Enlightenment ideas, and women’s appeals for expanded roles, an ideal of “republican motherhood” gained popularity. It called on women to teach republican values within the family and granted women a new importance in American political culture.
answer 5
The American Revolution and the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence reverberated in France, Haiti, and Latin America, inspiring future independence movements
answer 6
John Locke
Locke was an English political philosopher whose ideas inspired the American revolution. He wrote that all human beings have a right to life, liberty, and property, and that governments exist to protect those rights. He believed that government was based upon an unwritten “social contract” between the rulers and their people, and if the government failed to uphold its end of the contract, the people had a right to rebel and institute a new government.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
A French philosopher who believed that human beings are naturally good and should rely on their instincts; government should be democratic and exist only to protect common good
Adam Smith
the Scottish “Father of Modern Economics,” that frontally attacked mercantilism in 1776. He influenced the founding fathers of the United States, and convinced the advocate of free trade.
Pennsylvania Gradual Emancipation Law
1780 Pennsylvania was the fist state to do this and soon other northern states followed. Slavery was phased out in the North following the Revolution.
